First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME) Short Interest Update

First Merchants Co. (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 573,600 shares, an increase of 20.8% from the December 15th total of 474,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 271,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Michael J. Stewart sold 7,248 shares of First Merchants stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $316,955.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 92,664 shares in the company, valued at $4,052,196.72. This trade represents a 7.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.32% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRME. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Merchants in the second quarter valued at $45,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in First Merchants by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,020 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,399,000 after acquiring an additional 4,066 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in First Merchants by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 178,829 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,953,000 after acquiring an additional 4,349 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in First Merchants by 5.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,475,053 shares of the bank's stock valued at $115,682,000 after purchasing an additional 180,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in First Merchants by 59.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 58,820 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,958,000 after purchasing an additional 21,900 shares during the period. 73.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Merchants Stock Performance

Shares of First Merchants stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.27. 530,176 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 215,388. The company has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.88. First Merchants has a 12 month low of $30.55 and a 12 month high of $46.13.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.06). First Merchants had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The business had revenue of $265.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $160.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First Merchants will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. First Merchants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on FRME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on First Merchants from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on First Merchants from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.60.

First Merchants Company Profile

First Merchants Corporation operates as the financial holding company for First Merchants Bank that provides community banking services. The company offers a range of financial services, including time, savings, and demand deposits; and consumer, commercial, agri-business, public finance, and real estate mortgage loans.